Ff^ 


^n 




10-53 


^H 




Cof/L 


^H 




m 


1 


1 ft 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Rhelf„. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 



DESTINY OF AMERICA, 



THE INEVITABLE POLITICAL UNION OF THE 
UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 



AMERICA THE QUEEN OF COMMERCE, HER INHABITANTS THE 
LEADERS AND RULERS OF THE WORLD. 



THE POTENT EFFECT OF CHRISTIAN CIVII.IZA- 
TION ON THE AFFAIRS OF THE WORI.D. 



By EDWIN SUTHERLAND, 

Of the District of Columbia Bar. 



W. H. IvOWDERMILK & CO., 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

1889. 



Copyright 1889. 
By EDWIN SUTHERLAND. 



THE 



DESTINY OF AMERICA. 



THE INEVITABLE POLITICAL UNION OF THE 
UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 



AMERICA THE QUEEN OF COMMERCE, HER INHABITANTS THE 
LEADERS AND RULERS OF THE WORLD. 



THE POTENT EFFECT OF CHRISTIAN CIVILIZA- 
TION ON THE AFFAIRS OF THE WORI.D. 



COPYRlG. 






By EDWIN SUTHERLAND, 

Of the District of Columbia Bar. 



W. H. LOWDERMILK & CO., 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 

1889. 







^ 



2) 






fe 



/\H 






INTRODUCTION. 



The Destiny of America is a subject freighted with 
many grand and noble ideas, and one which should 
engage the attention of every patriot, statesman and 
scholar, and, indeed, of all, whether of high or low 
degree. 

It is not in its truest and widest range confined to 
either the United States, Canada or Mexico, but to all 
•^ — in fact, to the entire Continent. 

The following essay is the result of no inconsidera- 
ble research, travel, observation and consideration : the 
chief difficulty in its preparation has been in the con- 
densation and arrangement of the mass of matter which 
presented itself; sufficient matter relating to this fruit- 
ful subject could be found to fill many volumes. 

The essay will be found to be divided into three 
parts, — the first relates to the United States, its area, 
physical resources, capabilities of its people, etc. ; the 
second treats of Canada in the same manner; the third 
aims to show the effect Christian civilization will have 
on the whole human race, the part the American people 
are to play in this process of civilization, and the results 
which will spring from the political union of the United 
States and Canada. 

It would have enlarged the essay to an undesirable 
extent to have taken account of the varied and wonder- 



4 INTRODUCTION. 

ful resources of Mexico; but the national unity of the 
United States and Canada, (brought about, not by the 
violence of revolution and conquest, but by the silent 
forces of example and influence,) will ultimately attract 
'^nd absorb that nation, so that it too will become a part 
of one vast Continental Republic, — destined to be. 

This, in the view of the writer, is the final destiny of 
America, one indicated by the very structure and re- 
sources of the Western Continent, its dominant lan- 
guage, its prevalent religion and education. 

If the essay shall, to any extent, awaken the attention 
of the studious and thoughtful to the great and grand 
destiny of this country — encourage or lead to efforts, 
however small, for the promotion and attainment of that 
destiny, the writer will be amply compensated for the 
time and labor expended it its preparation. 

The description of the resources and capabilities, as 
well of the particular States and Territories as of the 
country in general, has been garnered from a number 
of well-known publications, prominent among them 
being "Our Western Empire" by L, P. Brocket, "The 
Great West" by a number of eminent Authors and 
Scientists, "Our Country" by the Rev. Josiah Strong, 
D. D., "Ridpath's History of the United States," sup- 
plemented by the personal observations of the writer 
during extended travels through Canada, the Great 
Northwest, West and South. The comparison be- 
tween this and European countries has likewise been 
obtained from various authors and by the writer's per- 
sonal observations. 

Edwin Sutherland. 

yanuary, i88g. 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 



IN the above word "America" is included Canada, 
as well as the United States. There has been of 
late much controversy on both sides of the border 
line, concerning the questions of "Annexation," "Reci- 
procity," and "Commercial Union." Patriotic Cana- 
dians have been holding up their hands in horror at the 
idea of Annexation. "Reciprocal Trade" or " Commer- 
cial Union" they express a willingness to tolerate, but 
they draw the line at Annexation. 

Their objection to becoming an integral part of this 
Nation seems to rest largely on sentiment; a repug- 
nance to being so disloyal as to leave the shelter of the 
parental roof; and national pride, feelings in every 
way laudable. 

Canadians, or at least many of them, are imbued 
with the idea that their country is destined to become 
great; which it undoubtedly is, but not as a separate 
nation. 

Professor Ralph W. Thomas recently read a paper 
before the Albany Institute, New York, entitled: " What 
is Canada?" As a corollary to this question might be 
asked, "What is Canada's Destiny?" To which the 
writer unhesitatingly answers, to be the complement 



6 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

and helpmeet of the United States, in the civilizing and 
Christianizing of the world — meaning thereby the 
Christianizing of those portions of the world not already 
under Christian Influences; and the raising to a higher 
plane of civilization those portions that are. In order 
to get at the subject understandingly, let us ask and 
answer the following questions: "What is' the United 
States?" "What is Canada?" "What is Christi- ' 
anity?" "What has Christianity accomplished?" 
"What is it destined to accomplish?" "What is the 
comparison between Christian and non-Christian races, 
and the inference to be drawn from that comparison?" 
And, in what particular way are Christianity and Amer- 
ica to be co-related?" 

These are stupendous questions, on any one of which 
volumes could be written; and the difficulty is, not to 
obtain matter in relation to them, but to select and con- 
dense into a suitable compass the mass that presents 
itself. 

"WHAT IS THE UNITED STATES?" 

The area of. the United States is 3,603,884 square 
miles; of which at least 2,000,000 square miles Is arable 
land. 

By systematic irrigation, and in other ways, probably 
50,000 square miles of supposed worthless land can 
be added to this number. Take for instance the 
"Bad Lands," so-called, of Dakota. Testimony is 
forthcoming that cattle come out of these "Bad 
Lands" in prime condition for market. Out of the total 
area of Dakota there are less than 100,000 acres of 
worthless land. Also the "Staked Plain," or Llano 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA 7 

Estacado of Texas, a region of about 30,000 square 
miles, of which so much has been heard, as to its ster- 
lity, &c. The fact is it has a great number of fertile 
and well-watered valleys. Some 1 5 or 20 million acres 
of Washington Tertitory turns out to be the finest 
wheat fields in the world. Utah's worthless land is 
rapidly diminishing in quantity; and so of Arizona, 
Montana, Idaho, and others. 

,In the States and Territories in which the land is 
not adapted to agricultural purposes, in nearly all 
cases it abounds in mineral wealth or is peculiarly 
suited for grazing purposes; so that it seems Provi- 
dence, in storing away the wealth of this country, was 
even then preparing for the race which was to inhabit it. 

These arable lands of ours are capable of supporting 
a population of about fifteen hundred million (1,500,- 
000,000) and have a surplus produce to export of five 
thousand million (5,000,000,000) bushels of grain. In 
order to get some idea of the magnitude of our country 
it is only necessary to say that the present population 
of the United States might be very comfortably placed 
and sustained in Texas, California, New Mexico, or 
Dakota. Texas could comfortably contain our total 
population; could feed them from products raised 
within her own borders; could supply the world with 
cotton, and have a cattle range large enough to feed 
the herds of the United States, or to supply every 
human being on the face of the earth with meat. Add 
to this "empire," other empires such as California, 
New Mexico, Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming, Oregon, 
Washington Territory, and others, and some faint con- 
ception can be had of the immense resources of this 



8 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

country. Let us glance briefly at some of the more 
prominent Western and Southern "empires" and as- 
certain their magnitude and resources. 

TEXAS. 

Texas has an area of 274,365 square miles. This 
area is equal to that of the German Empire with Hol- 
land, Belgium, Switzerland and Denmark added to it. 
It is four times larger than all "New England," and 
nearly equal to the combined area of New York, Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. It has 
every variety of soil, surface, climate and rainfall. The 
eastern portion of the State is very rich in its natural 
resources ; in it are vast deposits of iron-ore of excel- 
lentquality, and extensive beds of lignite coal. The pro- 
duction of coal in Texas in 1885 was 175,000 tons; 
there are no statistics for any year previous to 1883, 
when the production was 100,000 tons. Eastern Texas 
is a region of abundant timber, and, although the most 
densely populated portion of the State, full one-half of 
the surface is still covered with forests. It has very ex- 
tensive deposits of valuable iron-ore ; large deposits of 
salt are found in the lagoons west of Corpus Christi; the 
material to make plaster of paris exists within a short 
distance of Austia, and Mount Bonnel, and yet it is im- 
ported from Newfoundland; the finest of marble exists 
in great quantities, the River Colorado at Marble Falls 
cuts its way through mountains of solid marble ; gypsum 
of the purest kind exists in sufficient quantities to sup- 
ply the world for centuries. Central Texas has a rich 
soil, and is the best cotton region in the world, being 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 9 

capable of producing the cotton supply of the world. 
Western and Southwestern Texas are better adapted 
to grazing than to farming. Precious metals and 
other mineral deposits exist in this part of the country 
in profusion. 

The luxuriant growth of rich native grasses found 
in this section renders it pre-eminently a stock-raising 
country, and as such it is unexcelled by any other por- 
tion of the continent. The mountainous portion of 
Llano Estacado is rich in minerals set with a time-lock 
to be opened by the advent of the railroad. Silver, 
lead, copper, iron, and other metals are found there. 
With irrigation nearly the whole of the so-called "De- 
sert" could be brought under cultivation. 

Northern Texas has two immense belts of woodland, 
each about 45 miles wide, and extending southward 
from 1 50 to 200 miles. 

The climate of Texas varies from semi-tropical to 
moderately temperate. Mining and manufacturing are 
destined to be carried on, on a great scale in Texas. The 
whole State west of the meridian of San Antonio is 
full of mineral wealth. Coal mines and salt mines are 
now worked to a considerable extent, but only because 
there is an imperative demand for these products. 
Soapstone, marble, slate and gypsum will be largely 
exported. — "Our Western Empire," page 1120 et seq. 
The mining and manufacturing industries are estimated 
at about ^75,000,000. The agricultural products are 
about ^250,000,000, and of course in a State capable 
of supplying the world with grain, meat and cotton could 
be very much increased. 



lO THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

' The railroad mileage of Texas increased from 307 
in i860, to 8350 miles in 1887. 

CAIxIFORKIA. 

The area of California is 188,981 square miles, equal 
to the combined area of New York, New Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio and Michigan. Of this area about 65,- 
000,000 acres are arable, 40,000,000 acres are grazing 
lands, and about .8,000,000 acres of forest. At the 
Monte Diablo Mines, in Contra Costa county, nearly 
east of San Francisco and in Mendocino county, coal 
crops out in extensive beds, and has been worked for 
many years at the rate of 1 50,000 tons a year. In 1880 
236,000 tons were mined. Gold is found pure, in scales, 
in fine dust, innuggets, in crystals, and in combination 
with copper, silver, leaf zinc, and a dozen other metal 
ores; in 18 or more counties of the State, silver is found 
native, in combination v/ith lead, copper, iron, sulphur, 
and other metal ores. Copper is found native, in com- 
bination with a number of metal ores. 

Mercury or quicksilver is found, there being over 
sixty mines of quicksilver in the State. Diamonds, 
known as California diamonds in the jewelry trade, are 
found in many localities. The fisheries of the Califor- 
nia coast are valuable, there being about 240 species, 
and 60 species of mollusks. The average winter and 
summer temperature at San Francisco is between 50 
and 60 Fahrenheit. Snow rarely reaches the level of 
the sea. Winter consists of a few light frosts, with the 
thermometer at between 28 and 32 Fahrenheit for a few 
hours during the night, while in summer the number of 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. II 

hot days on which the thermometer reaches 80 or more, 
rarely exceeds eight or ten. The average winter cH- 
mate of the great interior valley is lower than that of 
corresponding portions of the coast, although the min- 
imum is little, if at all, below that of the latter. Sub- 
tropical plants, therefore, winter there almost as readily 
as on the coast. In summer, however, the average 
temperature is high, often remaining above 100 Fah- 
renheit for many days, the nights also being very warm. 
At the same time, however, the air is so dry as to ren- 
der the heat much less oppressive than is the case east 
of the mountains, sunstroke being almost unknown. 

The essential feature of the climate of the Great 
Valley may be said to extend 2000 feet up the slope of 
the Sierra Nevada range. Higher up snow falls and 
lies in winter, and the summers are cool; thunder storms 
occur, which are almost unknown on the coast and in 
the valley. Although very rich in precious metals yet 
California's great gold mines are in her vast wheat fields. 
In the markets of the world the wheats of the Pacific 
Coast are noted for their higher quality, the plumpness 
and light color of the berry, and the higher percentage 
of first-class flour it furnishes in milling. The yield of 
forty to sixty bushels, and even more to the acre, under 
very imperfect tillage, for a number of consecutive years, 
forms a strong proof of the producing power of the 
country, and a strong incentive to its culture. The 
wheats of Oregon, especially those grown on the plains 
of Upper Columbia, so closely resemble the wheats of 
California that millions of bushels of Oregon wheat 
reach the eastern markets as "California wheat." The 
preparation of the ground for the crop on the large 



12 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 



wheat farms is usually made by means of gang-plows 
with from two to six shears, drawn by from three to 
five horses walking abreast, and frequently a half dozen 
of these plows are at work in the same field, followed 
by a wagon carrying the grain and the centrifugal sower. 
The harvesting is on an equally large scale: great 
"headers" are pushed into the golden fields by from 
four to eight horses. Its vibrating headers clip off the 
heads on a swath from i6 to 28 feet wide, while a re- 
volving apron carries the golden ears to a wagon 
driven alongside, having a curious wide slanting bed 
for their reception. Several of these wagons drive 
back and forth between the swaths and the steam- 
thresher, where, within an hour, the grain that was 
waving in the morning breeze may be sacked ready 
for shipment to Liverpool. The sugar-beet and hop- 
growing industries are valuable. The fruit culture ot 
California is of world-wide reputation and needs no 
comment. Stock raising is a very profitable industry, 
although of course secondary to agriculture and min- 
ing. The mining product of California for 1879 was 
estimated at about ^182,000,000. 

Ocean steamers ply between San Francisco and 
Panama, the Sandwich Islands, Hong Kong, Yokohama, 
Sonth America ports, Australia, and other points. The 
two customs districts of San Francisco and San Diego 
stand third in the United States in the amount of their 
imports, which in 1879 were $36,105,639, and sixth in 
the amount of their exports, which were the same year 
$4,11 7,886. A large number of vessels, exact number 
and tonnage not known, but certainly not over 1000, are 
ongaged in the coastwise trade. — " Our Western Em- 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 1 3 

pire," page 551. The greatest commerce of the State 
is conducted over her railways, which increased from 
23 miles in i860 to 3667 miles in 1887, of which no 
definite figures are at hand for the present year, but in 
1887 it was about 2,000,000 tons, the freight of which 
amounted to about ^12,000,000. 

DAKOTA. 

Dakota has an area of 150,932 square miles, being 
about four times as large as the State of Ohio, and 
three times as larg-e as New York. Dakota has on the 
east side of the Missouri River at least 60,000 square 
miles of land fit for the plow. In about 100,000 square 
miles of this Territory, wheat can be produced more 
cheaply and to a greater profit than anywhere else, 
because the soil is admirably adapted to its production; 
the rainfall is in the months of May, June and July, just 
when it is needed; there is very little in August and 
September, when the harvesting is being done; the 
days are hot and the nights cool, and consequently 
rust, blight, mildew and sprouting of grain in the shock 
are almost unknown; and, because of the nearness of 
this section to the markets of the world, it is only 250 
miles from the Red River to Lake Superior. 

Farming in Dakota is conducted on a gigantic scale, 
and as systematically as manufacturing. 

Mr. Dalrymple, known as the "boss granger" of the 
region, has a farm of 37,500 acres on which is a wheat 
field of 20,000 acres, the yield of which in 1879 was 
about 500,000 bushels of wheat. On this farm 400 
men are employed in harvesting, and 500 to 600 in 



14 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

threshing. They use 250 pairs of horses, 200 gang 
plows, 115 self-binders, and 20 steam threshers. The 
men, animals and machinery are organized Into separate 
divisions with a superintendent for each. Nothing 
could be grander than a sight of these immense wheat 
fields, stretching away farther than the eye can reach, 
in one unbroken golden sea, while a long procession of 
reaping machines in echelon, like a battery of artillery, 
moves steadily against the thick-set ranks of grain. 
Travelling together, these 115 machines would cut a 
swath one-fifth of a mile wide and twenty miles long in 
a day. 

Dakota contains about 151,000 square miles, which 
is nearly all prairie. The Black Hills are remarkably 
rich in minerals, gold being very abundant, very rich 
copper-ore, coal In great quantities, petroleum of ex- 
cellent quality and inexhaustible supply, and salt de- 
posits. The foot-hills are covered with the richest and 
most nutritious grasses, cattle roam over them the year 
round without shelter, and stock-raising is one of the 
most important industries in the region. The arable 
lands in the Black Hills are from 500 to 600 square 
miles in extent, and consist of bottom lands along the 
streams and prairie and lower slopes of the foot-hills 
between the water-courses, and are of marvelous rich- 
ness. The yield of the Black Hills mines In 1880 was 
^6,000,000; the fine water powers in the vicinity and 
the coal mines which are readily accessible, as well as 
the large deposits of copper, lead and Iron which are 
awaiting development, must ere long make it an im- 
portant manufacturing region ; and in a few years we 
may expect to see the immense quantities of mining 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 1 5 

and agricultural machinery which are needed, as well 
as the manifold manufactures of wool and iron which 
are needed there, produced on the spot, instead of be- 
ing, as now, brought from Chicago. — "Our Western 
Empire," Page 721. The railway mileage of Dakota 
increased from 65 miles in 1870 to 4440 miles in 1887. 

MIHKESOTA. 

The area of Minnesota is 83,531 square miles, about 
54,000,000 square acres, of which about 3,000,000 acres 
is water surface, there being upwards of 7000 lakes. 
The "Big Woods," composed of a dense and magnifi- 
cent growth of hardwood over one hundred miles in 
length, and of an average width exceeding forty miles, 
comprises an area of 50,000 square miles. In the 
northeast part of the State there are 256,000 acres of 
cranberry marsh. The mean average temperature ot 
the State is about 44 Fahrenheit. The air is very dry 
and bracing. The rainfall, like that of Dakota, is in 
the three months when it is most needed. The climate 
is healthful and the death-rate low. Minnesota has 
2,796 miles of shore line of navigable waters. In Jan- 
uary 1880 there was no town in the State which was 
more than 25 miles from a railway station ; it must be 
remembered that all these railway lines have been 
built since 1862, as at the end of 1862 there were only 
ten miles of railway in the State. There are about 
40,000,000 acres of arable land, which are believed to 
be very fertile. The northern counties are adapted to 
sustain vast herds. Minnesota is a great dair^'-farm- 
ing State. Few States equal it in manufacturing capa- 



1 6 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

cities. The Mississippi lends the State one thousand 
miles of shore line, half of which it contributes to pur- 
poses of manufacturing. Pokegama Falls, Little Falls, 
Sauk Rapids, and St. Anthony Falls, form extensive 
and valuable water-powers. St. Anthony Falls, on 
which Minneapolis is situated, forms one of the most 
magnificent natural seats of manufactories in the coun- 
try. The St. Louis river descends to the level of Lake 
Superior through a series of jagged falls of incalculable 
power. Fergus Falls, on Red River, the several falls 
on the Zimboo, on Cannon Root, Cottonwood, Red 
wood, and other streams, exhibit the distribution of 
water power throughout the State. Considering its 
vastness and diffusion, the capacity of the surrounding 
country for feeding it with raw material, and the illimi- 
table field for the consumption of the products, it is 
difficult to limit the progress of industrial products, which 
may be reasonably expected of the future. The lead- 
ing staples of manufacturing industry in Minnesota are 
flour and lumber — one the manufactured product of its 
vast areas of fertile soil, the other of the pine forests 
which cover a large part of northeastern Minnesota. 

Minneapolis had in 1880 more than 20 saw mills, which 
produced 165,000,000 feet of lumber, besides lath and 
shingles; and 27 flour mills, which produced 5,250,000 
barrels. The number of saw mills in the State in 1880 
was about 200, with a producing power of about 1,000,- 
000,000 feet. The total flour production of the State 
was in 1878 over 10,000,000 barrels per annum. There 
are a number of iron works, and several boiler, stove, 
harvester, plow, and other agricultural machine fac- 
tories, woolen mills, cotton mills, paper mills and about 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. • 1 7 

25 or 30 Other mills and factories of various kinds. 
— "Our Western Empire," page 406. The railway- 
mileage of the State increased from nothing in 1850 to 
5019 in 1887. 

WYOMma. 

Wyoming has an area of 97,883 square miles. There 
are extensive coal beds along and near the Union Pa- 
cific. The consumption of Wyoming coal in 1876 was 
524^000 tons, and has since increased. Petroleum 
springs are numerous throughout the territory. Gold 
and silver are found at many points. Several ores of 
iron occur in immense quantities. About 60 miles 
north of RawHns there are two soda lakes, estimated 
to contain 125,000 tons of carbonate of soda of great 
purity. Sulphur deposits and sulphur springs occur at 
many points. There are 6,000,000 acres of farming 
land and about 35 million acres of grazing land. The 
mountains are clothed with a thick growth of pine, 
spruce and hemlock trees of large size. Numbers of 
other varieties of wood abound. The mining products 
in 1879 were estimated to be about four millions of dol- 
lars. The manufacturing industries in 1877, though in 
their infancy were computed to be worth about four mill- 
ions of dollars. — "Our Western Empire," page 1213. 

WASHIUGTOK TERRITORY. 

Washington Territory has an area of 69,994 square 
miles. 

Puget Sound, the Mediterranean of the Western 
Continent, extends from the British line on the North 



1 8 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

to Olympia on the South. It has a coast Hne (in the 
Territory) of 1594 miles, and its area within the Hmits 
of the Territory is over 2,000,000 square miles. The 
country by which these waters are surrounded is re- 
markably salubrious, and offers every advantage for 
the accommodation of a vast commercial and military 
marine, with convenience for docks, and a great many 
sites for towns and cities, at all times well supplied 
with water and capable of being well provided with 
everything by the surrounding country, which is well 
adapted for agriculture. The foot-hills and slopes of 
the mountains on both sides are almost wholly covered 
with Immense forests of fir and cedar, reaching the 
very summits of the mountains. Gold has been dis- 
covered. The greatest mineral wealth of the Territory 
is in Its extensive coal beds, which are of excellent qual- 
ity. The climate is exceptionally agreeable, healthful 
and productive, the temperature rarely going higher 
than 95 in the summer, or lower than 25 In the winter. 

The soil Is quick, light and friable, and yields aston- 
ishing crops of hay, grain, hops, fruits and vegetables. 
The river bottom lands will yield an average of from 
40 to 60 bushels of wheat per acre. The fir timber of 
Washington Territory finds a market in every country 
of the world. Trees often grow to the height of 300 
feet. In eastern Washington the climate is most favor- 
able to health, the soil yields the largest average re- 
turns of wheat, drought is unknown, the crops never 
fail, and the ultimate capacity for the production of 
cereals of the highest grade has been estimated as high 
as 1 50,000,000 bushels per annum, 

Mr. Philip RItz, of Walla Walla, in 1869 wrote: "I 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 1 9 

have seen large fields of wheat average fifty-six bushels 
to the acre, and weigh sixty- two pounds to the bushel, 
and have seen fields which yield forty to fifty bushels 
per acre from a volunteer crop ; that is, produced the 
second year from grains scattered out during harvest, 
sprouting during the fall, and growing without even 
harrowing." The net cash value of the wheat crop of 
1880 was ;^9,ooo,ooo. In addition to wheat there have 
been large exports of other cereals, wool, flour, and live 
stock. Large shipments of flour have been made from 
Walla Walla direct to Liverpool. The export of coal 
in 1880 was 190,000 tons. The production of manu- 
factured goods in 1880 was about ^8,000,000. — "Our 
Western Empire," page 11 89. 

Having thus glanced at a few of the more promising 
Western and Southern States and Territories of "Our 
Union," let us take a brief glance at these states as an 
aggregate, or the "Union" itself. 

The United States produces fully one-half of the 
world's supply of gold and silver. In mineral wealth 
it is almost inexhaustibly rich. We have iron ore in a 
majority of all the states (in every state west of the 
Mississippi except one), and we have more coal than 
all the other countries of the world put together, except 
Canada; lead is found in a majority of the States (in 
every State west of the Mississippi except three) ; cop- 
per is found in every State west of the Mississippi except 
two, and in some east of it; tin in sufficient quantities 
to supply the world only awaits development; incalcul- 
able deposits of slate; deposits of sulphur and borax 
almost chemically pure ; marble of every hue and finest 
quality; cotton in nearly every southern state — to go 



20 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

through the hst would only be tiresome. There are 
over twenty states which would supply the world with 
iron; two mountains, "Iron Mountain and Pilot Knob," 
are estimated to contain 500,000,000 tons of iron-ore; 
it is probably not generally known that Texas has vast 
quantities of the finest ore in the world. The section 
of the country west of the Mississippi has vast wheat 
fields; vast timber lands equal in area to a dozen of the 
larger states. 

We have almost continguous to one another the raw 
material for every variety of manufacture, and the 
means of converting that raw material into the finished 
article; we have the best and most Inventive operatives 
in the world; any one walking through the Patent 
Office in our national capital might almost be justified 
in thinkine this a nation of inventors. 

Electricity is to be the prime motive power in the 
world. The Americans as electricians are unexcelled, 
unequaled even, by any of the Inhabitants of the globe. 
At the International Electrical Exposition In Paris, there 
were five gold medals awarded for the greatest inven- 
tions, and pist five of those medals came to this country. 
In connection with the fact that electricity Is to be the 
prime motive power of the world, and that Americans 
are the leadlnof electricians of the world, Is the further 
significant fact that history has yet to record where the 
Anglo-American has ever failed in his undertaking. 
In our estimation of the results to be accomplished by 
Americans, these facts are worthy of weighty consider- 
ation. 

In the manufacture of tools and mechanical appli- 
ances of all sorts, Americans are without any peers on 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 21 

earth, thus making them as a class, the best mechanics 
on the globe. 

Hon. Wm. McKinley, Jr., in a recent speech said: 
"We entered upon the memorial year 1861, without a 
protective tariff; and therefore, and logically, without 
money and without credit. Ten millions of "our citi- 
zens were engaged against Federal authority, resolved 
to destroy the Union. The four years following were 
years of drain and destruction — drain of the National 
substance, and destruction of the propert)^ of the peo- 
ple. We equipped and supported great armies, built 
a large navy, paid high premiums for loans, and sub- 
mitted to almost ruinous discounts upon our National 
bonds. The Union was happily restored, more than 
one half of the great war debt has been paid, and the 
basis for our National and individual obligations has 
been made the "coin of the realm." 

"At the end of 28 years we have a surplus which 
compels us to buy bonds at a premium — bonds not yet 
due and payable — and to-day have a credit higher than 
ever before in our history and second to none among 
the nations of the world. History presents no such 
progress elsewhere. The vast public debt has not only 
been reduced, but we'have reduced taxation. We have 
reduced taxation over 1^360,000,000 annuall}^ In 1858 
the ordinary revenues were ^46,655,000; the ordinary 
expenditures ^72,291,000 — a deficit of over ^25,000,- 
000. In 1859 the ordinary revenues were ^53,486,000, 
the ordinary expenditures ^66,327,000 — a deficit of 
^13,000,000. In i860 the ordinary revenues were 
$56,654,000, the ordinary expenditures ^60,010,000, — 
a deficit of 4,000,000. In the year ending June 30, 



22 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

1861, the ordinary revenues of the government were 
$41,476,000; the ordinary expenditures $62,537,000, — 
a deficit of $21,000,000; in the four years a grand total 
of about $60,000,000, expended in the excess of the re- 
ceipts of the government. (American Economist, Vol. 

Ill, p. 51.) 

To this must be added the cost of the war for four 

years following, amounting in round numbers to $6,- 
000,000,000, and devastation of crops, buildings, rail- 
way property, &c. 

No computation can be made of the loss to the State 
by the withdrawal of millions of men from the peaceful 
pursuits of production for the space of four or five 
years, and of hundreds of thousands forever. And 
even of those who were producing, their products were 
sent to the front to carry on the work of destruction. 
When we reflect that more than one-half of the war 
debt has been liquidated, and, while paying out annu- 
ally to the maimed and wounded survivors of that war, 
and the widows and orphans of our heroic dead, about 
$85,000,000 (or more than the total expenditures of the 
Government before the war) in addition to the ordi- 
nary expenditures, we still have an income of about 
$50,000,000 in excess of all our obligations, and that 
within the short space of a quarter of a century, some 
slight idea of the magnitude of the achievement can be 
obtained. What does this areue for the future? 

Mr. McKinley, continuing, says: "In 1865, when the 
war closed, the value of our exports and imports was 
$404,774,883, and in 1888 their value was $1,419,911,- 
000, an increase of over 200 per cent." "Our coast- 
wise trade is more than three times as large as the 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 23 

home fleet of Great Britain, and more than five times 
as large as that of any other nation." "The mining of 
coal has increased from 16,000,000 tons in 1861, to 
90,000,000 tons in 1887; we had 35,000 miles of rail- 
road in 1865, we have now 150,000 miles," "Instead 
of moving 70,000,000 tons we are moving annually 
552,000,000 tons while the value of that tonnage has 
increased from ^2,213,400,000, in 1865, to ^13,222,- 
000,000 in 1887." "Nearly 400,000 persons are en- 
gaged in the metal industries, as against 53,000 in 
i860; 200,000 persons are engaged in our woolen 
and worsted industries, as against 60,000 in i860; 
350,000 persons are employed in the wool industries, 
as against 130,000 in i860." "Since 1861 there have 
been established not less than 770,000 homes, with an 
cultivated lands equal to all New England, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware 
combined." 

"We have become the greatest manufacturing coun- 
try in the world. In literature, art and science, we have 
kept pace with, if we have not led all other peoples." 
(American Economist, Vol. Ill, p. 51.) 

Immigration to the United States in 1888 was 546- 
889: the total value of export and import merchandise 
to and from all countries was ^1,430,000,000. 

The public debt, principal and interest, in 1888 was 
^1,691.000,000. The public debt less cash in the 
treasury and available cash items in 1888, was ^1,148 - 
500,000. The total revenues for 1888 were ^380,000,- 
000; total expenditures, ^312,000,000. 

The present population of the United States is esti- 
mated at 65,000,000, and will be twenty -five years 



24 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

hence, at the present rate of increase, 125,000,000, and 
about 700,000,000 one hundred years hence (1989). 
This people carried on one of the costHest wars known 
to history. For four years 3,500,000 men were ac- 
tively engaged in destroying one another. Battles 
were fought which for tenacious and persistent effort 
of the opposing forces to kill one another — dogged, 
fixed, determination to fight on until victory crowned 
their efforts, in the face of repeated defeats month after 
months — have no parallel in military history, battles 
such as could only have been fought by men of the 
Anglo-Saxon race. 

This is another important point to be remembered 
and considered in our estimation of the place to be oc- 
cupied by the Anglo-American race of the future. 

Notwithstanding this four years of drain and destruc- 
tion, the wealth of this people to-day (little more than 
a quarter of a century later) is something phenomenal, 
being about ^50,000,000,000. Enough to buy a halt 
dozen of the empires of Europe, together with Africa, 
and South America, with all their contents — lands, ships, 
buildings, jewels, &c. It is exceedingly difficult to real- 
ize that this nation which is scarce a century old is far 
and away richer than any of the other nations, though 
these others have been many centuries accumulating 
their wealth. 

The South is destined in the near future to become 
a great manufacturing centre; within the range of vi- 
sion from the crest of Lookout Mountain nearly a 
million tons of pig iron were produced in 1887, and 
this is only one illustration out of very many. 

Southern iron is being marketed in sufficient quan- 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 25 

titles to depress the prices of the products of eastern 
furnaces. 

Seaport towns refuse to believe that the Suez Canal 
is secondary to the Sault Ste. Marie Canal in point of 
tonnage, or that more passengers or more tons of freight 
pass Detroit in a day during the shipping season than 
any other strait in the world. The ore out-put for 1 888, 
from the Lake Superior mines was 5,000,000 tons, of 
which all but about 400,000 tons was shipped by lake. 
The output for 1889 is expected to be even greater. 
In the summer of 1 888, the schooner " Governor Ames " 
was built on the coast of Maine, and was supposed to 
be the largest sail vessel in the world. But the " Golden 
Age of Milan" of the Lake Craft outmeasures her by 
100 tons, and several others equal her. In 1882 the 
Globe, shipyard of Cleveland turned out the iron pro- 
peller "Onoko," which was 300 feet long, and with a 
carrying capacity of 3000 tons. Vessels aggregating 
100,000 tons, with an average carrying, capacity of 
2,500 tons, were turned out in the shipyards on the 
Lakes in 1888, and there are now on the stocks 65 ves- 
sels which aggregate even greater tonnage. The reason 
why so much tonnage is being turned out on the lakes 
is because the lake trade is protected. Not only is it 
impossible for an American to buy a foreign vessel and 
run her between American lake ports, but no foreign 
vessel can carry a cargo from one American Lake 
port to. another. 

We have practically 49 nations with free commercial 
intercourse, with one language, one currency, one in- 
terest, and with common institutions ; whose commerce 
amounts to ^20,000,000,000 annually. Cotton is being 



26 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

exported at the rate of about 400,000 bales a month. 
The merchandise exports for one month in 1888 were 
about ^85,000,000. 

The Americans are the best fed and the best clothed 
people on earth. They consume more meat per caput 
than even the Englishman, whose gastronomic perfor- 
mance in that line is historic ; in the matter of grain 
they consume twice the quantity the Englishman does. 
England to carry on her cotton manufacture must go 
either to America, India or Egypt for every pound of 
cotton she spins; America being the nearest country, 
she would naturally get her supply there, and it is 
3000 miles away. The " New South" is erecting mills 
on her own cotton fields. England to get coal to carry 
on her manufactures must go ever deeper in already 
deep coal pits, thus increasing the cost; while in this 
country the cost is lessening. 

In the foregoing description no mention has been 
made of the Territory of Alaska, and yet it is too im- 
portant a territory to pass by without brief mention, not-^ 
withstanding the fact that Mr. Walker Blaine, in his re- 
port of his trip through the country, said, "It was such 
an inhospitable country that neither cattle, grain or 
vegetables could be produced there ; that in all the re- 
gion he did not see a cow ; and that grain and vegeta- 
bles could only be grown in isolated and widely sepa- 
rated spots." 

Alaska has an area of 577,390 square miles. This area, 
it will be observed, is a very little less than the com- 
bined areas of Texas, California and Dakota. Alaska 
may never become a summer resort, but it is destined 
to play a very important part in the history of this 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 2/ 

country. It will be the shipyard of the world. Iron 
exists all over the territory. Yellow cedar or camphor 
wood, which is the very best of all woods for ship- 
building, exists in the greatest profusion. There is 
also a great variety of other wood. Coal of good 
quality and great extent exists in the territory. Very 
rich copper-ore is found. A great many metals and 
ores are found, and some of the more common of the 
precious stones. Gold has also been found in several 
places. In the matter of fur, a large part of the world's 
supply must come from Alaska, she has no rival on 
this continent, and in the more important branches no 
competitor worthy of the name on the globe. 

Alaska is also destined to supply the worid with fish. 
Its waters abound in halibut, herring, cod and salmon; 
indeed, there is hardly a species of which representa- 
tives cannot be found. 

The fur seal fisheries have alone repaid the total 
amount of the price paid for Alaska ($7,200,000), and a 
profit of 1 1 per cent, on the investment. 

We have everything necessary for building up our 
mercantile navy. We have the ship and lumber yard 
of the worid — Alaska; we have Iron and coal in al- 
most Inexhaustible supplies; and we have a race of 
the most skilled mechanics in the world. All that Is 
needed is the adoption by this Government of the 
patriotic policies of other Governments, In the foster- 
ing of their shipping Industries, and we will soon be- 
" come the carriers of the worid. In 181 5 we were do- 
incr95 per cent, of our own carrying trade; in 1888, al- 
though the carrying trade had increased in volunie 
many fold, we were doing less than 1 5 per cent, of it. 



28 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

There are now no sufficient causes to provoke 
another civil war. There may be temporary discon- 
tent on the part of a single State, from some real or 
imaginary hardship ; but the great mass of States are 
so bound to each other by ties financial, commercial, 
charitable, literary, and religious, that there can be no 
general movement which would lead to a civil war. 

Europe is already crowded, and, as has been stated, 
at the present rate of increase, after allowing for emi- 
gration, her population one hundred years hence (1989) 
will be 550,000,000 (less than the population of the 
United States at the same time' by one hundred and 
fifty millions). Europe is decreasing in wealth; in 
England, landed property is mortgaged to 65 per cent 
of its value. The total indebtedness of continental 
Europe is ^20,168,475,675, and increasing. The tax 
collector in Italy takes nearly one-third of the people's 
earnings. England's debt is attaining such vast pro- 
portions that she will never be able to liquidate and 
will probably repudiate it: this is true of nearly all the 
European powers. The armies and navies of Europe 
on a "peace" footing consist of 8,000,000 men, with a 
liability of 14,000,000 more being called out, at a cost 
of about ^13,000,000,000 annually; to this is to be 
added the loss to the industries of Europe by the with- 
drawal of such a vast army of men from the ranks of 
labor and production. The total cost of our army and 
Navy, including loss to the State in the producing power 
of soldiers and sailors, is considerably less than $100,- 
000,000 annually. Certain European writers, Carlyle 
and Macaulay among others, predicted of this country 
that we would be safe enouofh as a Nation until our 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 29 

public lands were exhausted, and then would come the 
strain on, and test of, our institutions. It is estimated 
that the public lands will be entirely exhausted by 1920, 
or possibly sooner. One thing is absolutely certain 
that the destiny of this country will be moulded and 
determined by the law makers of the coming quarter 

""^ It"i7unquestionably true that when the public lands 
are exhausted, and what has heretofore been a panacea 
for many ills no longer exists, our institutions will be 
mven an opportunity to display their intrinsic worth ; but 
our safety will not so much lie in the institutions them- 
selves as in the interpreters of them, hence the urgent 
necessity of the coming generation being fully alive to 
the trials and dangers ahead, and of being mentally 
equipped to grapple with the arduous questions which 
must inevitably arise. 

There are grave perils, and many a rock ahead ot 
us on which the ship of State may easily founder; and 
we never at any time in the past had greater need of 
steady hands, cool brains, sagacious heads, and brave 
hearts at the helm, than at the present. 

It is not infallibly certain, so far as human knowledge 
goes, that this Republic will surmount the many obsta- 
cles 'in its path. It depends very materially on the 
courage, sagacity, and, above and beyond all, the 
Christian character and training of those who are en- 
trusted with the reins of government, as to whether the 
ship of State will safely avoid the many and treacherous 
shoals which have destroyed other nations. One of the 
surest ways to founder is to adopt the belief, which 
seems to prevail with some, that the country is destined 



30 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

to become great and glorious; using the word destined 
in a fatalistic sense, and seeming to think that we the 
inhabitants have nothing further to do than to eat, 
drink, and be merry, and permit ourselves the greatest 
latitude of freedom in thought, word and action, while 
the Lord kindly works out the country's salvation for us. 

The perils before us are many and grave. We are 
in danger of mistaking license for liberty ; in danger of 
degrading the grandest right of man, the right of suf- 
fage ; in danger of being guilty of the weakness of im- 
itation. Our institutions are endangered by the law- 
less hordes poured on our shores under the guise of 
immigration. We are in danger of sacrificing our in- 
tegrity, honesty and Christian principles in our haste 
to be rich; the Bible gives us the warning that "he 
that is in haste to be rich, shall not be innocent." Our 
worst, most universal, and most besetting sin is our 
contemptuous non-observance of the Sabbath, and rig- 
idly excluding God from all commercial affairs. In our 
Western cities the theatres, saloons, and street railways 
do so much more business on the Sabbath, that the 
proprietors thereof always make extra preparations for 
that day. 

To know an evil is the first step towards eradicat- 
ing it. 

In looking over the history of the world we find that 
the nations which perished were those which did not 
know God, or knowing Him, forgot Him. Remem- 
bering this fact, when we turn to Duetoronomy, " chap, 
viii. verses i8 and 19, and read, "But thou shalt remem- 
ber the Lord thy God, for it is He that giveth thee power 
to get wealth, that He may establish His covenent 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 3 1 

which He sware unto thy fathers as it is this day. And 
it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, 
and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship 
them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely 
perishy We find a clear injunction and a clear promise. 
Construing this passage on the theory that what is im- 
plied is as much a part as what is declared, we would 
have as its corollary that if we do not forget the Lord, 
and do not walk after or serve other gods, but remem- 
ber Him and obey His behests and injunctions^ we 
will live as a nation, and become the conservators, of 
the highest type of human freedom. 

WHAT IS CAUADA? 

Professor Ralph W. Thomas, in a paper read be- 
fore the Albany Institute, New York, says: "Geogra- 
phical Canada has an area of 3,360,000 square miles, 
about equal in area to the United States. The basin 
of Hudson's Bay alone is 2,000,000 square miles in ex- 
tent. Canada is forty times as large as England, 
Scotland and Wales. It is equal to three British In- 
dias; it is fifteen times as large as the German Em- 
pire. A country of magnificent areas ; of unmeasured 
arable plain and prairie; of mountains rich in mineral 
wealth, of lacustrine systems that dwarf our own; of 
majestic rivers wholly within her own borders measured 
upon the Missouri-Mississippi scale: — this is Canada." 

Industrial Canada is great in agriculture and min- 
erals. Ontario raises the finest barley in the world, 
and some of the finest draught horses. The North- 
west includes 466,000 square miles of the wheat fields 
of the world. 



32 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

From its situation, it has two hours mora daylight 
than other wheat-bearing regions of this continent. 
This means two hours more of forcing power every 
day. Manitoba claims 75,000,000 acres of wheat fields. 

"The Canadian wheat crop for the first ten months 
of 1888, was valued at ^5,000,000." 

"The Northwest regions are capable of supporting a 
population of many millions. Alberta is the ranch of 
Canada ; its climate is so mild, on account of the warm 
currents in the Pacific, that cattle and horses roam 
over the pastures the year round, and are found in 
spring to be in good condition for market. The Cana- 
dians exported ^10,000,000 worth of catde during the 
first ten months of 1887." 

"All these advantages are to be re-inforced by 
transportation. The Canada Pacific Railroad is a fact, 
and the Hudson's Bay route is promised, by which Win- 
nipeg is brought 782 miles nearer to Liverpool; and 
would be brought 21 36 miles nearer to China and Japan 
than via New York and San Francisco. If this route 
succeeds, Canada will hold the key to the markets of 
the world. Coal exists throughout Canada in abund- 
ance. The entire coal area is said to cover 97,000 
square miles. In one copper deposit there are ridges 
miles long above the ground. The "Calument and 
Hecla" vein is 12 feet thick; the "Canadian" vien 
is 1000 feet thick. The Geological Survey has located 
557 deposits in the Eastern townships alone. 

" Gold and silver exist in numerous quantities. The 
principal fields are Nova Scotia and British Columbia. 
In the latter province,'^5o,ooo,ooo have been taken from 
the ground by unimproved methods, and this seems to 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. ^^ 

point to vast deposits in the mountains. In Beaver 
Mine, at Port Arthur, discovered in March last, there 
is in sight, by actual measurements, $750,000 worth of 
silver. Like bonanzas have been reported in British 
Columbia. Such exposures are unprecendented. Iron 
is found in unlimited quantities and of the best grade. 
Near Ottawa there is a hill of iron estimated to contain 
100,000,000 tons. The railroad up the Valley of the 
Trent runs through a continuous iron belt for 150 
miles. At Glasgow, in Nova Scotia, within a radius 
of six miles there is found hundreds of tons of iron-ore 
of the best quality, side by side with limestone chemi- 
cally pure; coke in seams 30 feet thick, and all direcdy 
on the line of the Inter-colonial railway and within six 
miles of the Atlantic Ocean. This ore could be put on 
the wharf in Boston for $1.50 per ton, which to-day 
costs $5.00 to $6.00 per ton. The Ontario Government 
has recently sold 150,000 acres of land at $2.00 an acre, 
covering an iron belt 75 miles across." 

" Commercial Canada has not as yet acquired that 
prominence which might be expected when the resources 
of the country are considered. Yet, in her Merchant 
Marine, Canada ranks fourth among the nations of the 
earth. Commerce is now being fostered by the Gov- 
ernment, and in 1881, the American trade with Canada 
amounted to $89,000,000. The Pacific coast is already 
buying 300,000,000 tons of Canadian coal every year 
in spite of the duty. Our manufacturers are compelled 
to go to Malta and Spain for a certain grade of iron- 
ore, when it exists within a few hours ride of our bor- 
ders. The manufactures of this country are deprived 
of nickel, which could be used in many ways, were it not 



34 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

for the high price of the metal; it is the best of all 
rnaterial for the making of ordnance. But there are 
only two deposits of any consequence in the world. 
One is within a few miles of Detroit, the other in New 
Caledonia, half way round the globe." 

"We hear much of the high price of lumber, and 
much of the destruction of our forests. Canadian lum- 
ber by the million feet is annually going up in the smoke 
of forest fires or rots in the earth. Ten millions of 
acres of forests exist in British Columbia alone." 

The revenue of Canada derived from all sources, for 
1887, was $35,754,933- The expenditures were $35,- 
657,680. The public debt is $274, 1 87,626. Population 
a little over 4,50x3,000. The total amount of exports 
was $89,515,900 of which nearly one-half was to the 
United States. The total amount of imports was 
$112,892,236, of which nearly one-half, or about $52,- 
000,000 was from the United States; exceeding the 
import trade from Great Britain by about $6,000,000. 
Canada has a total railway mileage of 12,332 miles. 
The value of her fisheries is about $19,000,000. Immi- 
gration to Canada in 1887 was 84,526. 

Time was when the Genesee Valley in the State 
of New York was the great wheat producing region ; 
so much as that Rochester was known as "Flour City." 
The great wheat centre has steadily moved westward 
and northward to the border line between the United 
States and Canada, until it is now making an advance 
on the North Pole, and we hear of wheat being grown 
in the vicinity of Hudson's Bay Company's stations, for 
twenty consecutive years without rotation, without fer- 
tilization, and annually producing crops averaging 30 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. " 35 

bushels to the acre. The writer has seen in the Pem- 
bina mountain region, vegetables, such as potatoes, 
cabbage, beets, &c., of mammoth size and the finest 
quality, and produced in such profusion within a given 
space as to be almost incredible. Droughts are never 
feared in that country, because nature has supplied it 
with a never- failing spring; long ages of continuous 
cold have produced a frost line in the earth, far down 
below the surface, which, being thawed out during the 
summer months, oozes up to the surface, and thus robs 
the dry season of its terrors. 

Recently a new cotton factor}^ has been established, 
in Beau Harnois, Quebec, for the express purpose of 
manufacturing cotton to be sent to China,-^that unlim- 
ited market. This is significant of two facts, — that 
China is beginning to feel the wants of civilized coun- 
tries, a step towards the Christianizing of that country; 
and that Canadian commerce is taking great strides 
forward. 

Some idea of Canada's vastness may be gathered 
from the size of her rivers and lakes. The St. John in 
New Brunswick is 500 miles long. The St. Lawrence 
is 750 miles long and is entirely navigable. The Ottawa 
is 550 miles long. The Assinnboin is 480 miles long; 
the Red River of the North 500; the Saskatchewan, 
called the "Gateway of the Northwest," is 1500 miles' 
long and nearly entirely navigable; the Mackenzie is 
navigable for 2500 miles; the Frazier, Thompson, Ath- 
abasca and Winnipeg are large rivers. Lake Winni- 
peg is about the same size as Lake Superior; Lake of 
the Woods, Great Slave Lake, Great Bear Lakes, are 
all large. Ontario — the garden spot of Canada — has 



36 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

a fertile soil, invigorating climate, vast forests of mer- 
chantable timber, treasures of mineral wealth, and water 
power of limitless capacity. It has extensive areas 
which grow a better sample and a larger yield of the 
staple cereals than any other portion of the continent. 

Another authority says: "Ontario possesses a fertil- 
ity with which no part of New England can at all com- 
pare ; and that particular portion of it around which the 
circle of the great lakes is swept, forces itself upon the 
notice of any student of American maps as one of the 
most favored spots of the whole continent where popu- 
lation ought to breed with almost Belgian fecundity." 

Canada has nearly 6000 miles of sea coast, washed 
by waters abounding in the most valuable fishes of all 
kinds. Lead is found in nearly every province. The 
deposits of salt are the largest and purest on the con- 
tinent. In the matter of coal, Canada possesses the 
only sources of supply on the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans. And between these two, there are stretches 
of coal deposits amounting to 97,000 square miles. 



And now, having depicted in a most general way a 
few of the features and resources of this great conti- 
nent, as described to us by various writers, what destiny 
awaits it all ? 

Questions are arising which are steadily becoming 
more complex and importunate. What is to be their 
solution ? 

Canada's Premier, with a parliament having three 
years to sit, and with a working majority which has 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 37 

been, and still is, steadily increasing, threatens to go to 
the people for a verdict on the much mooted question 
of " Annexation." 

The steady trend of Government has been towards 
popular, or republican, forms of Government. Bismarck 
is an old man now, and there is nobody to take his 
place. If Germany had popular Government, there 
would be little more heard of socialism. The new 
franchise may allay the restlessness in England for a 
time, but Gladstone is also an old man, and is the last 
of a coterie of orators and statesmen, who have made 
the Victorian era famous: who can foretell the occur- 
ences which may take place when these two towers 
of strength have passed away? The thoughtful men 
of England admit the belief that a social revolution is 
impending. 

In Italy the situation is daily becoming more strained. 
The Government is on the eve of perpetrating a gigan- 
tic act of spoliation. Towards the middle of the com- 
ing month (February, 1889), a bill will be submitted to 
the Chambers for the confiscation and sale of the im- 
mense possessions in Italy of the various monastic and 
religious orders known by the name of "Opere Pie." 
The value of the property is estimated at ^600,000,000 
yielding an annual revenue of ^30,000.000. The min- 
istry finds itself face to face with a deficit of no less 
than ^70.000,000. 

The arrears of taxes are enormous, and the number 
of seizures and forced sales by the Government for 
non-payment of taxes has become very great. In the 
south of Italy especially, whole villages and districts 
have been put up for auction by the Sheriff. Most of 



58 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA, 

the big cities are bankrupt and unable to pay the in- 
terest on the extensive loans they have made. Farmers 
cannot find a market for their crops and stock. Misery 
reigns supreme everywhere. From almost every im- 
portant centre, reports arrive of riots and serious distur- 
bances, of processions of starving men and women 
clamoring in the public streets for bread and work. 
The national debt averages ^75, per caput. Emi- 
gration for 1888, was 300,000. 

The " Lombardiay an important northern paper 
says: 

" An improvident and spendthrift financial policy, 
without definite place or programme, and a foreign 
policy which under the pretext of peace, involves the 
Nation in all the disadvantages of war, have contributed 
to the economic situation of the Country." 

France is perilously close to another revolution. 
Russia is beine ag-itated from her centre to her cir- 
cumference. 

* Europe is an armed camp, and, like Vesuvius, the 
eruption may come at any time. 

Should England become Republican in form of Gov- 
ernment, — and she undoubtedly will — what is to be- 
come of Canada? Is she likely to remain an indepen- 
dent Nation, and maintain two chains of custom houses, 
and possibly forts, instead of one? Why were two 
Countries of such vast expanse, divided only by an 
imaginary line of latitude, each endowed with such rich, 
varied and limitless resources, inhabited by the same 
race of people (the Anglo-Saxon) placed in juxtaposi- 
tion? 

Granting that there was some specific reason for thus 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 39 

SO richly endowing this particular continent, let us as- 
certain, if possible, what it was. Why was not Asia, 
Africa, or Europe thus selected? The reason is be- 
cause America has a duty to perform, a work to do, as 
obligatory upon her as that of forming a part of this 
planet. This duty is to support a race of people which 
is to civilize and Christianize the world. This work 
could not be done by America divided, it must be a 
United America. To perform this, was needed a con- 
tinent vast in extent, compact, with limitless resources, 
and capable of sustaining countless millions of human 
beings; and the two countries above described make 
just such a continent. 

It was no accident that peopled these two countries 
with offspring of the same race. The inhabitants of 
Canada and the United States are as sons of common 
parents ; they have come from the same stock, speak 
the same language, have the same customs and the same 
relio-ion. The people of Canada decidedly excel the 
people of the United States in piety and observance of 
the Sabbath. Their country is equal to, and in some 
instances surpasses ours in the production of mineral 
and agricultural wealth. 

These two countries just described are the last to be 
inhabited in the line of ladtude. Empire has been 
steadily moving westward in the centuries past and has 
reached its western boundary. The world is getting 
filled up; it may be centuries in filling to the point of 
crowding, but its doing so is only a question of time; 
• it is to be dominated by one race which will have one 
religion. It can hardly be doubted what race that will 
be, or what will be the religion of that race. 



40 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

The Ang-lo-saxon race as has been stated, now num- 
bers about 100,000,000, and rules about one-third of the 
earth's inhabitants and one-fourth of its surface. It is 
hardly likely that this race, when it shall have increased 
in numbers 15 times, (as it will do in 100 years) will 
have lost its power or appetite for ruling'. The power 
of this race to rule does not depend on numbers alone, 
as witness 60,000 English soldiers keeping in peaceful 
subjection millions of East Indians; — or the myriads of 
Asia, who have shown no capacity for ruling. 

The Anorlo-saxon race is the one destined to rule the 
world ; the relieion of that race will be the Christian ; 
the home and seat of power of that race will be Amer- 
ica. In this connection I would quote some remarks 
of ex-Governor Gray, of New Zealand. Speaking of 
the Samoan Islands, he says: 

"It would be far preferable to leave each of these 
island groups with independent governments, settling 
all disputes among themselves by arbitrations, and 
guided, if possible, by a commission of foreign powers. 
It is clear that America is aiming at this line of policy, 
annexing none of the Islands herself, and doing her ut- 
most to preserve the peace of the Pacific. This also is 
pertain to be the policy of all English possessions in this 
part of the world. America will evenhially become the 
leader of the Anglo-saxon race, and will displace Eng- 
land from the position she now holds. Many eyes in 
this part of the world are already drawn towards Amer- 
ica as the power that is likely to preserve the interests 
of the Anoflo-saxon race in the Pacific, without herself 
annexing anything, or allowing foreigners to do so. It 
is clear that the centre of power among the Anglo-Saxon 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 4I 

race Is shifting to America, as the centre of population 
has already done. It is therefore unwise of England 
to neglect her interests in such a time of emergency. 
The United States does not require a standing army, 
and consequently the whole resources of the people so 
circumstanced could be devoted to the maintenance of 
a navy which would make the Anglo-Saxon i^ace mistress 
of the world. 

This will be the more easily comprehended if we 
take a brief glance at what Christianity has already ac- 
complished, what it is destined to accomplish, and what 
non-Christian religions have failed to accomplish; and 
from these facts note the connection between Christ- 
ianity, the Anglo-Saxon race and America, or in other 
words state what America's destiny is. 

WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY? 

At a certain era in the world's history, not very re- 
mote as compared with the duration of the human race 
on the earth, there appeared a new moral force in hu- 
man history. It originated in an obscure tribe of a re- 
mote province of the Roman Empire, and was embodied 
in the personality, life and teachings of a remarkable 
Being, called "Jesus the Christ." The outcome of the 
teachings of this Being is what we call Christianity. 
The moral truths in these teachings were not absolutely 
new as indeed the principles of morality rest on the 
principles of human nature, and must be known more 
or less clearly, to all men; but they were presented 
with such unequalled elevation and purity, accompanied 
with spiritual truths so profound and universal as well 



42 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

as with supernatural claims, that the whole formed a 
new power in the world for the moral renovation of 
man, in other words, a religion, but one claiming to be 
absolute and universal for all ages, and races and cir- 
cumstances. 

WHAT HAS CHRISTIANITY ACCOMPLISHED? 

Christianity came into existence at a time when the 
Roman Empire was in the height of its glory, and from 
the banks of the Tiber governed the civilized world. 
At that time a Roman Father had absolute authority 
over his sort, he could chastise, put in chains, exile, or 
sell him as a slave ; and he had power of life and death 
over him. 

The son's property became the father's; he could 
assign a wife to him, divorce him when married, or 
transfer him to another family by "adoption." 

Under the Roman law, a husband had power of life 
and death over his wife, and absolute control over her 
property. The position of woman in "Christian" (?) Eng- 
land, even in 1 8 14 does not indicate that "honor to 
womanhood" was an all prevading sentiment, when a 
man could bring his wife to market in a halter and sell 
her at auction for two and six pence with an additional 
six pence for the rope, making a total of 30 pence or 
72 cents. Vice among Roman families had reached its 
lowest depths during the first centuries of the Christian 
era. There is no doubt that the Stoical philosophy 
which was the most elevated and pure known to Greek 
and Roman antiquity, accomplished a great deal of 
good. The Stoical Moralists required, among other 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA, 43 

things, absolute purity, but few of their followers have 
ever practiced this high self-restraint, and no great ex- 
ample stimulated them to it. 

A Roman slave murdered his master, and all his 
fellow slaves, to the number of 600, and all innocent, 
were put to death with him. Human life was held 
hardly less cheap in civilized England. English Law 
recognized 235 capital offenses. A rabbit's life was 
worth more than that of a man. To injure Westminster 
bridge meant death, and so on. 

The Roman races, and many races under them, had 
fallen to such a low stage of degeneracy as to be beyond 
redemption. Free marriage gave rise to the utmost 
freedom of divorce. Separation could be legally caused 
by either party, by a desire to divorce expressed in 
writing. Marriage by civil contract could be dissolved 
by* mutual consent. Modesty was held to be a pre- 
sumption of ugliness. Though the women of the bar- 
baric Keltic tribes held a peculiar and revered position, 
and were noted for their purity, (there being many in- 
stances where they killed themselves rather than sub- 
mit to dishonor from the Roman soldiery), and the 
early Teutons had scales of penalties for every ap- 
proach against woman's virtue, yet she was under tute- 
lage. And this tutelage gave the husband power to 
sell, punish or kill his wife. 

In all barbaric society, individual injury is at once 
revenged on the person of the enemy. Even to this 
day the Arabs carry out blood feuds to an extreme. 
Such was the condition of mankind at the advent of 
Christianity. 

One of the first and most powerful effects of Christ- 



44 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

ianity on the barbaric and half civilized society of Europe 
was the new position which it gave to woman ; and the 
sacred value it attached to marriage. As centuries go 
on, the test of advancing civilization is the social, legal 
and political position of the weaker sex. Human 
society rises out of its low estate, not merely by elevat- 
ing woman, but also by curbing the barbaric passion 
for blood revenge. The first influence of a love and 
faith towards Jesus Christ is to lead men to imitate and 
obey Him by controlling revenge and hatred. A fedual 
and wild society, falls naturally into "private war" 
where each chieftain "fights for his own hand." Eu- 
rope was nearly reduced to anarchy under these un- 
controlled habits. The figure which appeared in the 
storm, and quieted, if only for a time, the waves of strife, 
was Christ. 

The arbitration of the middle ages are the fruits at 
once of the Christian and of the commercial spirit; they 
show the first settlement of European society, and fore- 
shadowed that higher system of Christian arbitration 
which shall yet reform the relation of nations. The 
" wager of battle" and the "ordeal" were opposed from 
the beginning to the spirit of the "Religion" of Humanity. 
The teachings of Christ allowed no such mode of test- 
ing facts or obtaining justice as "single combat." As 
His spirit has slowly imbued, more and more, indivi- 
duals of all classes, the barbarous "judicial duel" 
dropped out of use, even as his influence in modern 
times has swept away the "duel of honor." 

The Jewish religion and the Gospel of Jesus both 
taught protection to the stranger and help to the unfor- 
tunate. The old abuses inflicted on the stranger and 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 45 

the shipwrecked, accordingly melt away before the new 
teachings. 

The Roman law wherever modified by the Christian 
influence, carried down the spirit of the humane teacher 
through ages of lust, cruelty and barbarism. Along 
with improvement of the laws in the middle ages, went 
advance in education. 

Christianity opened men's minds to all truth; it pro- 
duced that humility which is the best guarantee of the 
intellect against conceit and pride, — often the greatest 
obstacles to discovery and progress — it withdrew the 
faculties of superior men from pursuits tending to dam- 
age and destruction, towards those which would benefit 
humanity. 

The same result was experienced In the " Dark Ages," 
which has often been since, viz: that a high moral ad- 
vance Is favorable to the Intellect. The natural progress 
of mankind under the influence of the divine spirit and 
the Instincts Implanted in the human mind Is towards 
respect for the individual and towards self-control ; and 
in the preference of the higher and distant good to the 
lower and present. 

When the spiritual and moral faculties and sensibili- 
ties are elevated, the probability Is that the other facul- 
ties of the soul will feel their inspiration, and reason, 
judgment and imagination be elevated by the same 
influences. 

The influences of the truths preached in Palestine are 
peculiarly apparent In the gradual diminution or cessa- 
tion of serfdom and slavery. All the countless institu- 
tions of human compassion and charity, which attempted 
throughout Europe to relieve the horrible misery follow- 



46 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

ing the overthrow of the Roman Empire; the associa- 
tions of mercy, hospitals, asylums, refuges, schools, and 
centres of charity have directly emanated from the teach- 
ings of the "Son of Man." 

The grace, heroism and humanity, infused in Middle 
Age society, and so into modern life, was through the 
action of His faith on the German temperament. Chiv- 
alry has indeed a large proportion of transitory, whim- 
sical and earthly elements in it, but the humanity infused 
by it into wars, the respect inspired for woman, the 
courtesy and consideration taught, the grace and gen- 
tleness cast over society, the compassion it illustrated, 
belong to him who embodied such pure qualities with- 
out the alloy of class feelings, and who, as the "Son of 
Man," was in sympathy with all conditions of men, an 
eternal ideal of compassion to the unfortunate. 

Mr. Darwin once said of some persons who were 
criticising foreign missions: "They forget, or will not 
remember, that human sacrifice and the power of an 
idolatrous priesthood; a system of profligacy unparal- 
leled in any other part of the world; infanticide, a 
sequence of that system; bloody wars, that all these 
things have been abolished, and that dishonesty, intem- 
perance and licentiousness have been greatly reduced 
by the introduction of Christianity. In a voyager to 
forget these things is a base ingratitude, for should he 
chance to be at the point of shipwreck on some unknown 
coast, he will most devoutly pray that the lesson of the 
missionary may have extended thus far." 

The new constitution of Japan as promulgated from 
the throne by the Mikado, marks a great stride by 
that country towards Republicanism, and to a higher 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA 47 

plane of civilization. It can be traced as being almost 
directly one of the resultants of Christianity, and is 
copied from the American Constitution. The Japan 
Constitution establishes a House of Peers, the mem- 
bers of which are to be partly nominated by the 
Mikado; and a House of Commons of three hundred 
members. The right of suffrage is given to all men of 
the age of twenty-five years and over, who pay taxes to 
the amount of ^25.00 yearly. Liberty of religion, free- 
dom of speech, and the right of public meeting are 
established. Parliament shall possess legislative func- 
tions and the control of the finances under c*ertain lim- 
itations. Judges cannot be removed except by special 
legislation. 

What comparison is to be drawn between Christian 
and non-Christian races? 

The Hindoo, Chinese and Arabian may be considered 
representative of the religions other than Christian. Be- 
yond a doubt these religions have accomplished a great 
deal of good. The Hindoos are admitted by historians 
to have attained to a very high intellectual and moral 
advancement. The ancient books of their faith contain 
scattered through them, moral and spiritual truths, which 
in power and depth equal many of the doctrines of 
Christianity. Their sages and poets frequently taught 
the truths of the unity and spirituality of God, of a super- 
intendent providence, of man's sin and his need of for- 
giveness, of immorahty, of judgment to come, of human 
brotherhood and equality before God, and all the duties 
of man to God that spring from these doctrines. But 
with all these truths were included soon so many false- 
hoods, so many superstitions, vagaries, bloody, cruel, 



48 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

and licentious ideas and practices, and the want of any 
one simple and pure life and doctrine like that of 
Jesus, that the people very early fell into debasing prac- 
tices which checked progress. The great causes, how- 
ever of the want of progress in India, as compared with 
Europe, are the existence of caste and the position of 
woman. Caste is not improbably a result of conquest, 
but it has been strengthened instead of weakened by 
the religion of the Hindoos. The laws of Manu (sup- 
posed to date back at least to the fifth century before 
Christ) speak of caste as a law of nature and of divine 
appointment, as much as the creati9n of the different 
animals. But even more than caste, has the position 
of woman in India retarded her progress. The oldest 
religious documents and many of the older laws appear 
to have recognized a higher influence and position for 
woman than do the modern. Still even the laws of 
Manu assign her an inferior position. The wife Is per- 
mitted to be sold or beaten. A husband must con- 
stantly be revered as a god by a virtuous wife. She 
could not under the old code give evidence; she could 
not share in the parental property, she w^as by system 
deprived of education. As a wife she was held unwor- 
thy to eat with her husband. 

Buddhism entered China when two systems held 
sway. 

The truths of Confucius though In many respects 
elevated and filled with the sense of human brotherhood, 
not being connected with pure religion, failed to stim- 
ulate to an ever moving progress. They cultivated 
good will, and filial pity, and public duty, and outward 
propriety; but they did not offer inducements so pow- 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 49 

erful, or such personal affection for a supernatural 
teacher, or the sense of God and immortality, sufficient 
to overcome human selfishness. 

Such teachings as "with the slayer of his father, a 
man may not live under the same heaven," " against 
the slayer of his brother, a man must never have to go 
home to fetch a weapon," "with the slayer of his friend, 
a man may not live in the same state," kept alive feuds 
in China. The posidon of woman in China is evidently 
one of the causes of the sluggish condition of the coun- 
try during so many centuries. Woman has apparendy 
litde important part there, either socially, polidcally or 
morally. According to Confucius she can determine 
nothing of herself and must obey her father when young, 
her husband when married, and her son when her hus- 
band is old. The Spanish Arabs of the tenth and 
eleventh centuries, drawing their inspiradon perhaps 
from an older civilizadon were as much superior, intel- 
lectually, to the French, Germans, and English of their 
age, as are these people now to Afghans or Turks. 

In the arts and sciences and many of the best fruits 
of civilizadon, in refinement and intellect, the Moham- 
medans of the middle ages, both of Europe and Asia 
far exceeded the Chrisdan nadon. They followed, too, 
a faith which contained one great divine truth, the ex- 
istence of one infinite and spiritual Creator, to whom 
all men were responsible. They abhorred idle worship, 
and no doubt often came in contact with nominal 
Christians, who were farther removed than themselves 
from the spiritual worship taught in the Bible. But the 
sensuality encouraged by their faith; the cruelty and 
bigotry taught by it; the fatalism implied in it; the per- 



50 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

mission given in it to polygamy, divorce and slavery, 
proved that it was not the religion of the future, not 
the religion of humanity, and must come to an end. 

In fact, the many false and evil elements in Moham- 
medanism, have made it one of the curses of mankind. 
It has spread abroad the spirit of cruelty and lust, and 
under it are found the unnatural vices, the oppression 
of subject races, and the degradation of woman, which 
belonged to Europe before the era of Christianity. Its 
teachings of the doctrine of fatalism are an insurmount- 
able obstacle to all advance, whether in civilization or 
morals. Man becomes the mere sport and implement 
of an irrestible destiny. It has in it no element of per- 
manent, social and moral progress. The science and 
intellect of some of the races which embraced it could not 
save it. It so lacks the Christian respect for the indi- 
vidual, and the Christian benevolence, that it never 
suits itself to liberal Gdvernment or to advanced civili- 
zation. The splendor of Spanish and Asiatic Arab art 
and architecture is only seen in ruins; the science 
which once led the world in investigation only remains 
in words which have become histories, and in discov- 
eries which have preceded modern researches; while 
the barbaric tribes whom the followers of Mohammed 
then so despised, and who were in such low intellectual 
and moral condition during the Arabic period of glory, 
now lead the world's progress. 

The death of the Sheik-al-Islam calls attention to the 
wane of Mohammedanism. For several years past the 
influence of the priests in Carlo and Constantinople has 
been very greatly diminished. The revolt of Moham- 
med Ahmed, who styled himself El-Mahdi, or the 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 5 1 

prophet, was purely a religious uprising. For centuries 
the Mohammedan world has been looking for the 
coming of "The Prophet," as the Jews looked for the 
Messiah. 

Thus we see, none of these religions impress them- 
selves as the religion of the future, for all mankind, in 
all ages and under all circumstances. This is incon- 
testibly proved by the fact that traditional creeds or 
religions such as those of the Jews, Buddhists, Brahimns, 
Mohammedans are losingr their hold. 

Wherever Christian and non-Christian races come 
into contact the latter are stirred up and made to feel 
the pulsations of civilization. Civilization is a synonym 
for higher and better wants, and the races of China, 
India and Africa are to feel those wants. 

WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY DESTIHED TO 
ACCOMPLISH? 

In the struggle for existence that individual, or that 
race of individuals, is the most sure to survive, which 
is the most fitted for its conditions, physical, mental, and 
moral. And as every faculty and power develops, and 
the relations of human beings with one another become 
more complicated, that race which will survive will be 
the one most in harmony with the most advanced and 
refined conditions. 

Christianity is the prime agent In evolving such a race. 
The elements which especially govern the relation of 
men to one another in their highest associations, are 
sympathy, justice, and love of others' happiness, the 
control of selfish tendencies, and the aiming at univer- 



52 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

sal good. In lower relations we see in the history of 
the past, that such races as violated habitually ordinary 
morals and were greedy of wealth, indifferent to injust- 
ice; tyrannical to the weak; corrupted by pleasure; weak- 
ened by unnatural passions; oppressive to the masses; 
or eager for mere conquest or unjust glory, finally were 
overthrown and perished. As man develops and so- 
ciety advances, that race in which there is the highest 
development of sympathy, of benevolence, of sexual 
purity, of'truth and justice, will tend to be the strongest 
in body, the most clearly united, the most prosperous, 
the most free, the most influential on inferior races, and 
the most powerful as attracting other members to them- 
selves. All the destructive influences of the world will 
be less operative on them. The death rate of such a 
race will tend to be the lowest possible; the physical 
vigor the highest; the inequalities of fortune will be the 
most compensated for; the trade and intercourse with 
all other nations the freest; the laws and social customs 
will the most approach perfect justice and humanity. 
The power of such a race will far transcend anything 
hitherto known, for each member is permitted the ut- 
most possible development of all his faculties ; and vigor 
of intellect is infallibly sure to accompany great moral 
advance. 

In the struggle for existence, a perfected race like this 
will be as much beyond the races which history has known, 
as the Aryan races now are beyond the African. It will 
tend to suplant them. It will win the fruits of nature 
first. It will absorb from them. It will resist destruct- 
ive influences better. - If driven to physical contest, it 
would conquer them: it would inevitably lead all races. 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 53 

It need not be said that Christianity is adapted to 
form such a race as has been described above. Its 
tendency is to remove all destructive agencies. It 
teaches the brotherhood of man and the priceless value 
qf each human being, and therefore undermines serf- 
dom and slavery, which have overthrown so many com- 
monwealths; and steadily elevates the masses who 
make the strength of a State. It urges universal love 
and justice, and therefore leads men to aid one another 
in every possible way, to assist by wise charity, to re- 
move unjust burdens, to take off the trammels on trade 
and intercourse, to pass just laws and abolish ancient 
abuses. 

Under the teaching of "doing unto others as we 
would have others do to us," and "loving our neigh- 
bors as ourselves," sympathy and unselfish benevolence 
are the controlling elements in this higher condition. 
It opposes, and must finally do away with war, perhaps 
the greatest curse of mankind. 

In defending marriage and presenting the highest 
idea of purity as a religious obligation, it strengthens 
physical power and diminishes the great offense of 
woman, and will at length remove it. 

One of the most remarkable results of modern re- 
search is the confirmation of the accuracy of the histor- 
ical books of the Old Testament. The ruins of Baby- 
lon and Nineveh shed a light on those books which no 
skepticism can invalidate. What surprises us most is 
this marvelous accuracy in minute details, which are 
now substantiated by recent discoveries. 

Sir Henry Rawlinson, speaking of the researches 
in Babylon, says: "the name of every town of note 



54 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

in ancient Syria, mentioned in the Bible, can be sub- 
stanitated by the ruins of that City. The visit of the 
Queen of Sheba to Solomon is perfectly verified." 

An astonishing feature of the word of God is, not- 
withstanding the time at which its compositions were 
written, and the multitude of the topics to which it al- 
ludes, there is not one physical error, not one assertion 
or allusion disproved by the progress of modern sci- 
ence. None of those mistakes which the science of 
each succeeding age discovered in the books of the 
preceding. Peruse with care the scriptures from one 
end to the other, to find such blemishes, and whilst you 
apply yourself to this examination, remember that it is 
a book which speaks of everything, which describes na- 
ture, which recites its creation, which tells of the water, 
of the atmosphere, of the animals, and of the plants. It 
is a book which tells us the first revolutions of the world, 
and which also foretells its last. It is a book which 
nearly fifty writers, of every degree of cultivation, ot 
every State, of every condition, and living through the 
course of fifteen hundred years, have concurred to 
make. 

It is a book which was written in centre of Asia, in 
the sands of Arabia, in the deserts of Judea, in the Court 
of the Temple of the Jews, in the music schools of the 
prophets of Bethel Jericho, in the sumptuous palaces 
of Babylon, and on the idolatrous banks of the Shebar. 
It is a book whose first writer had been forty years a 
pupil of the magicians of Egypt; whose first writer pre- 
ceded, by more than nine hundred years, the most an- 
cient philosophers of ancient Greece and Asia. Search 
among its fifty authors, and its sixty-six books, search 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 55 

for only one ot those thousands of errors which the 
ancients and moderns have committed in speaking of 
the heavens and the earth, of their revolutions, of their 
elements ; and you will find — not one. 

It is on this book, which defies contradiction, contro- 
version or assailing, in any manner or form, the Christ- 
ian founds his faith, as on a Rock of Gibralter. He 
imbibes from it more pure morality, more important 
history and finer strains of poetry and eloquence, than 
can be gathered from any or all other books, no matter 
of what age or language they may be. He finds it to 
be indispensable in its profound wisdom, energy, and 
simplicity; he finds it one continued lesson of the strict- 
est morality, of justice, and of universal charity. 

The question might very naturally arise as to why 
the effect of Christianity past and to come, should have 
more sio-nificance when taken in connection with the 
American people than with any other nationality. The 
reason is because the Anglo-Saxon race stands to-day 
as the exponent of two great ideas, — Christianity and 
Civil Liberty. 

Christianity is the lever, and Civil Liberty is the ful- 
crum by which the world is to be moved. The Anglo- 
Saxon race has increased from an insignificant number 
in A. D. 1600 to over 100,000,000 at the present time, 
(1889) and one hundred years hence will be about 
1,500,000,000, of which about one-half will be in the 
United States alone. A component part of this race, 
the American people, is already far ahead, in many ways, 
of the other peoples making up the Anglo-Saxon race. 
Mankind has grown to be at once more delicate and 
more endurine, more sensitive to weariness, and yet 



56 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

more patient of toil, more impressible but more capable 
of bearing powerful Irritation, In short it is made up 
of finer material which though apparently frailer always 
outlasts the coarser. The physical and mental changes 
which are taking place in the inhabitants of the United 
States are apparently to adapt men to meet with the 
demands of a higher civilization. 

It has been asserted that physical degeneracy is al- 
ready apparent in the American people, and that, sup- 
posing Christianity to prevail with all mankind the 
Christian character of the future would be deficient in 
courageous and manly principles. The answer to the 
latter part of the objection is, that as civilization ad- 
vances moral courap-e will be more and more in demand, 
and physical nerve and resolution gained. The Christ- 
ian ideal has always been far in advance of past ages; 
and is still far in advance of our own. It would be dif- 
ficult, nearly impossible, for man to conform his life to 
the higher principles of Christianity, and survive in the 
struggle for existence; but it is not to be denied that 
it would be easier of accomplishment in the present 
century than any century past. 

The answer to the former part of the objection is one 
of statistics. Few even imagine what a magnificent 
type of manhood the American race Is. Statistics of the 
late Rebellion prove the native American was from 
three quarters of an Inch to one inch taller than the 
tallest of the foreigners ; that he was only exceeded in 
girth of chest by the Irish (the stoutest of all foreign- 
ers) by one quarter of an inch ; that his weight was in 
proportion to his stature; and that in physical endur- 
ance he was equaled by none. 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 57 

The type of character evolved by conformity with 
Christian principles is one of self-control, earnestness, 
carefulness, and a due sense of responsibility to a higher 
power. 

Darwin in his "descent of man," says: 
"There is apparently much in the belief that the 
wonderful progress of the United States, as well as the 
character of the people, are the result of natural selec- 
tion ; for the more energetic, resdess and courageous 
men from all parts of Europe have emigrated during 
the last ten or twelve generations to that great country, 
and have there succeeded best. Looking at the dis- 
tant future, I do not think that the Rev. Mr. Zincke 
takes ar^ exaggerated view when he says: 

"All other series of events, as that which resulted in 
the culture of mind in Greece, and that which resulted 
in the Roman Empire only appear to have purpose and 
value when viewed in connection with, or rather subsi- 
diary to. the great stream of Anglo-Saxon emigration 
to the West." 

The human race is supposed to have started from 
the traditional "Garden of Eden." Whether it did or 
not, certain it is th^t it originated in Asia, and ever 
since has heen moving steadily from the Orient to the 
Occident, and as the migradon westward has been go- 
ing on, the changes and mutations in the race have been 
taking place. America is the last Continent to be oc- 
cupied, — there are no more worlds. When the con- 
quering army, which has for centuries been steadily 
marching westward, reaches the Pacific, and having 
also reached a higher plane of civilization, it will coun- 
ter-march and go Eastward. The march Eastward 



58 THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

will consist of a struggle between the races for exist- 
ence, and in this, as in all other things, the Saxon race 
will come out victorious. 

When America, North and South, is filled up as Eu- 
rope is, then will come the struggle for existence be- 
tween the races which will end in the survival of the 
fittest. Can any one doubt in view of the facts, that the 
Anglo-saxon race is being prepared for that struggle? 

Herbert Spencer, speaking of the American people, 
says: " From biological truths it is to be inferred 
that the eventual mixture of the allied varieties of the 
Aryan race forming the population, will produce a 
more powerful type of man than has hitherto existed, 
and a type more plastic, more adaptable, more capable 
of undergoing the modifications needful for complete 
social life. I think, whatever difficulties they may have 
to surmount, and whatever tribulations they may have 
to pass through, the Americans may reasonably look 
forward to a time when they will have produced a civ- 
ilization grander than any the world has shown." 

To briefly recapitulate in the light of the foregoing 
facts, we see two Countries separated only by an imag- 
inary line of latitude, almost co-equal in territorial ex- 
tent, whose agricultural resources and mineral wealth 
are fabulous; either of which could supply the world 
with meat, grain, cotton and woolen goods, coal, iron, 
salt, precious metals, and many other articles not nec- 
essary to mention ; each of which is inhabited by a race 
of people coming of a common stock and resembling 
one another, in all essential characteristics, as members 
of the same family, a race outstripping all others in 
physical and mental endowments, literary attainments, 



THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 59 

mechanical skill, and, more than all, accomplished re- 
sults, one of which, (the American) has yet to record its 
first failure in any undertaking; either of which could 
produce and maintain a Navy capable of practically 
controlling the affairs of the world; each capable of sup- 
porting a population of hundreds of millions, and 
together a population of from 2000.000,000, to 2500,- 
000,000; both having such virgin and rich soil as to 
need onjy to be tickled agriculturally (metaphorically 
speaking) to produce most bounteous harvests, (who 
will undertake to say what the limit of production 
might be if careful and scientific methods of husbandry 
were universally adopted) ; each substantially profess- ' 
ing the religion which, according to the intention of its 
founder, is to be the religion for all men, at all times 
and under all circumstances, the religion which has 
lifted up men and nations from being brutes and bar- 
barians to their present altitude, and which will lift 
them to the higher plane of Christian brotherhood. 
Such are the two peoples and countries united by nature 
and nature's God, but separated, not by interest or ex- 
igencies, but by political or governmental organizations. 
The true question to be solved is not will the unity 
of these two countries help or suit the United States, 
or, will it help or suit Canada ; but will It assist or mar In 
the federation of the world. This continent will be In 
time a political, as well as a physical unit. Inhabited by 
the most free, most numerous, most powerful and most 
Intelligent people on earth. It will be the up-holder and 
conservor of the rights and liberties of men and nations, 
it will, by Itself walking in it, point mankind to the 
pathway of peace, prosperity, happiness and Christian 



6o THE DESTINY OF AMERICA. 

elevation. Its will not be a policy of aggrandizement; 
it will protect the. rights, and champion the cause of 
weaker nations without annexing them, and in doing so 
it will become the uncrowned mistress of the world. 
Such is the true destiny of the United States and Can- 
ada; to oppose or attempt to delay it can only be done 
on narrow and selfish grounds. The Canadian can 
only do it because of recollections and long associations 
with Great Britian, fears of his country losing local 
power and prestige and her limited independence; but 
in parting with these, she would lose only useless recol- 
lections, and would gain new and no less honorable 
associations, increase her power and influence, and 
maintain all true individual, social and governmental 
independence. 

Looking down the aisles of future ages, surely it 
does not require a prophetic eye to see one vast 
confederation stretching from the frozen North to 
the glowing South ; from the heaving Atlantic to the 
peaceful waters of the Pacific. A confederated conti- 
nent peopled by one people, having one law, one lan- 
guage, one religion. Whose wide domain will be the 
home of freedom, and a refuge for the oppressed of 
every race and of every clime; whose mighty power 
will be wielded to protect the rights and liberties of 
weaker nations. Whose people will be as a beacon 
light guiding other nations to the higher pathway of 
Christian manhood. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 








